UPDATED: With additional thoughts on Apple’s interest in the creative process.
Apple Insider has an excellent analysis on the future of the Mac Pro, and Macintosh computers in general.
This is in line with my earlier blog about the future of the Mac Pro.
There’s another, deeper, reason why I think Apple will continue to support and develop the Mac Pro. And this has nothing to do with dollars and cents.
I don’t think Apple is willing to cede the high-end creative space to a different platform.
Apple is a company, more than most, that strives to remember its past and use that past to inform its future. The idea of “Think Different” is embedded into its culture and the products they create.
Yes, we can be creative an any Mac or iOS device. But the wellsprings of creativity require heavy lifting: audio, video, 3D, mathematics, and deep science. These demand raw horsepower. I find it very hard to imagine that Apple is content to allow serious creation to quietly drift over to a Windows or Android environment.
On numerous occasions, I’ve had reassurance from Apple that a new Mac Pro is “coming later this year.” But what that new computer will look like or do, is totally unknown. It is clear to me, however, that it will be totally different from the Mac Pro we know now.
At the moment, I think that the principle gating factor is not a lack of interest from Apple, but the availability of the right chips from Intel and others that are needed to provide both the speed and Thunderbolt support these new systems require.
As always, I’m interested in your thoughts.
Larry
13 Responses to New Thoughts on the Mac Pro
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Terry S. says:
June 13, 2013 at 12:26 am
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Larry says:
June 13, 2013 at 1:29 am
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Terry S. says:
June 13, 2013 at 12:42 am
← Older CommentsWell it’s here! WOW! You called it Larry! And I agree with why you were thinking they would totally redesign the Mac Pro. It was quite inevitable. I didn’t buy into the talk and hype that Apple has forgotten the pro market & industry. But I did feel something was in the works or development.
I can see now that this new super-car machine was in development for many years. It’s also clear that Apple had all along intended to have Thunderbolt on the Mac Pro, but there just was no ecosystem for it. So.. what do you do – release it early and hold back on serious updates to the “status quo,” thus forcing the industry to adapt and innovate for the machines that support Thunderbolt. Then with this new Thunderbolt ecosystem established – roll out the new Mac Pro with the second-generation of Thunderbolt. Very smart on Apple’s part.
I really like the design and what they have done inside. They have taken the early concept of the Cube and fixed everything that was wrong with a small-form Pro Desktop. The main factor being the heat and air circulation issue. The new Thermal-Core and revolutionary fan design was a real breakthrough! I’m drooling over the Graphics potential these machines have – way to go AMD! If I read it right, each card can be configured up to 6GB of Video RAM each – Darn! Me being in the Motion Graphics/VFX field – you cannot get enough Video RAM. This may be enough – LOL! Support for up to three 4K monitors – WOW! Only four slots for RAM were shown. Hopefully at least 16GB DIMMs will be supported. Perhaps 32GB DIMMs are on the way. Here’s hoping. Internal flash storage was expected and practical for this form-factor. They say that the processors are up to two times faster than the current Mac Pro tower, so 4 to 6 Ghz quad-core or six-core processors could be possible. That would make a lot of since since the i5 dual-core and i7 quad-core chips are becoming the standard in the rest of the product line, so they would need to have some serious speed difference to justify the need to buy a Mac Pro. LOL! I don’t think anyone expected to see a cylinder-shaped case though, but it looks really awesome! It’s a really modern and innovative design.
Larry, I would like to know what your thoughts are on the New Mac Pro?
I’m working on some thoughts now and will have an article by the end of the week.
Larry
Well – I should say – It’s Coming! But you get the point. It’s now going to be a reality rather than a speculation or a wish. But I am glad to hear they have great plans for the Pro Desktop.